


Purified - Wing of Fire AU

by Eazbeaz, GalacticGale



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending, Genocide, Mass Death, Murder, No shipping, Population Wiped Out, Pyschotic Character, Revenge, Suicide, Violence, extremely detailed violence, like seriously there's some messed up stuff here, more specific trigger warnings listed at the start of each chapter, no happy ending, no ships, psychopathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-05-13 21:32:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eazbeaz/pseuds/Eazbeaz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticGale/pseuds/GalacticGale
Summary: Abused and ignored by his family, Qibli had grown up with two things in mind: dragons could not be trusted, and that his family deserved to pay for what they did to him.After going on a hunt with the rest of the Jade Winglet to find an old scroll by Darkstalker, Qibli knows that an opportunity to get revenge on his family was near. But after succumbing them to pain and torture, he realizes how great the scroll is, and plans to use it to wipe out as much untrustworthy dragons as he can, which could include the entirety of Pyrrhia, according to him.





	1. Thievery

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo boy, get ready for a wild ride, readers. It won't be a fun one :D. Just some trigger warnings for this chapter (and if these bother you, I really don't recommend reading this...)  
> Trigger warnings:  
> Thoughts about revenge.  
> Thoughts about murder.

#  CHAPTER ONE

 

It was probably no surprise that Qibli absolutely  _ hated  _ his family.

And even if hate was a strong word, strong was the feeling he felt for them.

It seemed that the feeling was mutual, as well. The reason was unclear—perhaps it was because he was the youngest in the family—his siblings had constantly told him that he was weak and useless and that he'd never survive on his own. Not once in his life did he remember a time where any of his family members would smile warmly at him, tuck him under their wing, do those things he saw and heard about from others.

His mother didn't even seem to care about the poor treatment he got. While his brother and sister bullied him day after day, she ignored all three of them, never once telling either of them off for being rude to their younger brother.

_ Brother. _

__ Oh, how could he ever call any of them family now, or  _ anything  _ even  _ remotely  _ close to him for that matter, after everything that they  _ didn't _ do for him?  _ Brother, sister, mother... _ Even though he was only thinking about them, the words tasted bitter to him. They didn't sit right with him, and they never did, and never would.

So it was a shame that he was unable to get his revenge when he was still living with them.

Well, not until now.

Qibli looked at the sleeping figures of his friends— _ no, _ they weren't his  _ friends _ , they were dragons he was randomly assigned to learn with and tolerate for who knew how long. His eyes looked over them with a dismissive gaze, the kind you’d look at a young dragonet with: Moon, Turtle, Kinkajou, and Winter, with Peril sleeping outside, due to how dangerous she was.

_ She won't be the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia for much longer. _

__ He couldn’t help but snort. How peaceful they all looked, even Winter, who was usually snarling and threatening to claw someone’s throat out. None of them were interesting. None were useful. None meant anything to him, no matter how much he pretended.

__ Qibli searched around the sleeping bodies until he was able to find what he was looking for. There, tucked safely under Moon's wing, was a scroll. On the outside, it seemed something so ordinary—just some other scroll to learn about some unimportant history event that occurred thousands of years ago—but it was much more than that.

The scroll wasn't some dumb history scroll. It was a talisman, holding animus power from a dragon that existed two thousand years ago. Writing anything on the paper phrased like an animus spell would work the same way an animus saying a spell out loud or thinking one would work.

It was fascinating, really. And strange, how some ancient animus was able to make this scroll work the same as any normal animus' magic worked.

Apparently it belonged to Darkstalker, a dragon born two thousand years ago who was too evil for his own good. Qibli scoffed. It didn't take too many thoughts to understand that this Darkstalker was an idiot. He had gotten himself locked underneath Jade Mountain because he was "too powerful" or whatever the stories said.

_ Who cares about a two thousand year old dragon and whatever he did that was supposedly "evil" or "too powerful"?  _ Qibli thought, still eyeing the scroll, waiting for the perfect moment to snatch it from right under Moon's wing.  _ Animus magic has no limits, aside from bringing back the dead, but who cares about that. Nobody in my life or those who had been in it deserves to come back, whether they're dead or not. _

__ After a moment, the opportunity to steal the talisman for himself came. Moon shifted in her sleep, her wing moving only slightly to expose the scroll more, but that was all Qibli needed. Trying to be as sneaky as possible, the SandWing hurried over, grabbing the scroll with his talons and heading outside the cave as fast as he possibly could.

Qibli had never particularly liked rain—not that there was much rain in the Sand Kingdom to begin with, but he thought that it was just a nuisance that slowed him down when he was flying, or walking, or doing practically  _ anything _ , and right now that point was being proven. Rain pattered against his scales and wings, but after a moment he lifted himself into the air, flapping his wings a bit awkwardly as he tried to get a sense of direction in the weather. He glanced at the nearby forest below him, and knew that now faraway were the sleeping bodies of his “friends,” thinking that they would be so very important. Maybe they thought the next second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year,  _ century _ . But, alas, never would they amount to anything.

As he tried to head through the rain, his clouded sense of direction doing no good, he spotted the Sand Kingdom in the distance. He looked at it with such hatred, and he knew that his so-called "family" were still there, way better off without him in their life. A plume of hatred, like the blossom of fire in his throat before he would breath flames, welled up within him.

Qibli hovered in the air eyeing the faraway, sandy landscape for a moment before slowly descending down into the forest, thankful to be sheltered from the rain once more. He shook the water from his scales and wings before padding around, scroll still in his talons.

After a moment of walking, he spotted a small cave; not big enough for a dragon, but small and dark enough to hide some sort of object inside without it being too noticeable. He sat against the rock that rose out of the ground, flipping over so he could look at the scroll, now in the shade from the leaves above.

Oh, how simple it really did look. It still smelled like fresh paper, even if it was thousands of years old. It didn’t matter who's it was before him, because now it was his. His!

“Mine!” he exclaimed, laughing triumphantly and crumpling the paper slightly with his claws as he tensed his talon.

He shook his head, feeling a bout of giggles coming back. He stuffed the scroll into the small cave after looking at it triumphantly once more. 

He backed away after he found what he thought was a suitable spot, he backed away, pleased. Nobody was going to steal his new treasure away from him, and if anybody dared to try, he would take it back by force.

Well, maybe that blasted mind reader would be able to do something about it, but she was too weak and cowardly. Besides, he'd find a way to deal with her and her powers later, especially after he had lost his skyfire early on in their adventure.

He couldn’t help but flutter his wings in excitement, appearing like a young dragonet again, or at least at first glance. His eyes betrayed his thoughts. He twitched oddly every so often, claws shaking with an unknown feeling.

Alas, he knew he must return before the sun rose. After eyeing the scroll, hardly visible in the cave, once more, he leapt into the sky, becoming airborne. 

The rain still pattered against his sandy-colored scales, slipping under them and in his ears and his eyes…

He shuddered, shaking himself, before flapping his wings to continue through the air. The slightest pink had already appeared on the horizon, so he knew he must hurry back. All he knew was that if anyone, especially that damned animus or mind-reader, found out about him, he’d be in trouble.

As he set foot on the soft grass, he caught a flash of black in the corner of his eye.  _ Damn the stars… _

“Qibli?” came Moon’s soft, confused voice, “What are you doing up so early? What were you doing?”

Qibli turned to Moon, quickly putting on his usual cheerful persona and erasing all thoughts of the scroll from his mind. He gave her a goofy smile. “I was just checking out the forest. Seeing if anyone dangerous was nearby.”

Moon studied him, looking just slightly suspicious, before sighing and the suspicion vanished. “Alright, Qibli. You always seem to like to get a good look at new places.”

Qibli winked, grinning at her. “Never hurts.”

Before Moon or Qibli could say anything else, Winter came charging out of the cave, skidding to a halt next to Moon and flapping his bright wings to steady himself. "Moon!" he said, perhaps a bit too loudly, considering that she was standing right next to him.

Moon looked surprised, taken off guard from the IceWing. She turned to him. “Er- yes, Winter?”

The IceWing ducked his head in embarrassment for a moment, before composing himself. “The… the scroll- the talisman, I mean, has gone missing.”

Although he didn’t do it in reality, Qibli felt like he was smiling, so triumphantly, so proudly.

In reality, he flapped his wings in surprise, putting on a nervous look. “Really? That can’t… how?” He turned to Moon. "You were guarding it so well, right?"

“I- I-” The NightWing looked so panicked. She was so small, feeble, weak. She looked so very helpless right now. 

_ Too bad your powers can’t help you now. _

The thought slipped through his careful coverup of thoughts. The NightWing’s gaze suddenly snapped to look at Qibli. Suspicion was renewed on her face. “You- you didn’t happen to catch who did it, being awake, did you, Qibli?”

Qibli shook his head, frowning. “Ergh! I should have just stayed back and guarded this place! What if someone took it?”

Winter looked panicked. “Are we going to have to search for it  _ all over again _ ?" he asked, ignoring Qibli and turning to Moon.

Moon looked down at the ground. "We might have to," she said. "Who knows whose talons it could have fallen in to?"

As they were conversing, he saw the other members of the winglet waking up—first Peril, before she went to wake up Kinkajou. The SkyWing's movements were extremely cautious, perhaps worried that she would accidentally set something on fire due to her firescales. It was time to act fast now, to get away before more dragons woke up.

"I could try getting a head start on who might have stolen it," Qibli said, already starting to walk backwards. "They couldn't have gotten  _ that _ far, especially in the rain and darkness, right?"

Winter shook his head. “No… probably not. Should I go with you?”

Qibli quickly shook his head. “If they are nearby, more dragons going after it would just alert them faster.”

Moon quickly jumped in. “No, I think Winter should go. More dragons mean you can look over more space.”

“Then Winter can look somewhere else,” Qibli argued. “I can look over the place I checked out last night. Besides, we'll be covering more ground. We don't know which direction the thief went.” He hoped that these annoying dragons would just leave him alone already. Moon already seemed to have too many ideas.

Looking reluctant, she sighed. “Alright, I suppose you should look over different areas.”

Qibli smiled and winked at her, quicking turning around and leaping into flight, just as he saw Kinkajou and Peril seemingly asking more about what was happening. He didn’t want to deal with even more of them for a second longer.

Qibli quickly retraced his steps, thankful that it had stopped raining as morning arrived. It was much easier to find the hiding spot now that he had a better sense of direction. 

He pushed through branches and leaves before finding the cave where he had tucked the scroll into. He did a quick check, feeling around in the cave for the scroll, letting out a small sigh of relief when he felt that it was still there.

After doing one last check to make sure the other dragons he was just with were out of his sight, he took the talisman out of its hiding spot, feeling its pages as he turned his face to the rising sun.

_ It's time for the fun to begin. _ _ _

 


	2. Victims

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings for:
> 
> \- murder  
> \- murderous/psychotic thoughts  
> \- blood  
> \- suffocation  
> \- death in the ocean

The first obstacle Qibli ran into was how he didn't have any form of ink or a quill on him at the moment.

That didn't stop him for long, however. Assuming that it didn't matter  _ how  _ the words were written or in a specific ink or whatever, just as long as they were legible, Qibli decided to get creative with his current ink substitute until he was able to get something proper.

Luckily, a forest was inhabited by all sorts of berries, and while not as plentiful as the resources in the rainforest, Qibli still managed to find a bush that was growing a ton of bright blue berries on it. He took a talonful of them and a large leaf before crushing the berries as neatly as he could onto the leaf, trying to get a majority of the juice onto the leaf in order to use it properly.

_ Sirocco and Rattlesnake have to die first, obviously. _

He folded the round leaf, before lowering the leaf to the paper. He slowly let little juice drops fall to the parchment, slowly forming quite the long sentence.

 

“ _ The two nearest stones will turn into two chains, jointed together. They will then find Sirocco and Rattlesnake. The two separate chains will wrap around their necks, before dragging them to a remote place. They will  _ not _ die of dehydration, lack of sleep, heatstroke, or starvation while there. The only thing that will kill them is the chains, which slowly will get tighter over time. _ ”

 

He lifted the leaf, now hardly dripping juice, and looked at what he had messily written with a sick satisfaction. 

He threw the leaf to the side, watching as two nearby stones rolled towards each other. They soon transformed into collar-like chains, and then another chain appeared, jointing the two together. Before Qibli could think, he watched as the odd contraption shot away in a blur, off in the direction of the Sand Kingdom.

_ Perfect,  _ Qibli thought after breaking out of his small moment of shock, his eyes still fixed on the direction that the chains had flown off towards.  _ But I'm nowhere near done. _

  
  


\---

 

“What’s your issue?” Sirocco snapped at his sister, tail lashing without any thought of if he would hit someone with the poisonous bud on the end of it. Frankly, he didn't care if he did. Most dragons he knew  _ definitely _ deserved to get stabbed by his tail.

“I’m just clearing some stuff out!” came back the snappy reply from Rattlesnake.

Sorocco rolled his eyes,  _ Idiot _ , he grumbled in his mind, walking over to where his sister was doing just as she had said.

Before Sirocco could properly respond, he heard a sudden rattling noise before a pain on his neck.

“ _ What _ -” he exclaimed, clawing at whatever had just came up. 

He craned his next to see a chain wrapped around his neck, and his gaze looked over it to see it connected to another similar one around Rattlesnake’s neck.  _ What's going on?  _ he thought frantically, turning around as good as he could from the way he was wrapped in the chains. Was there some assassin or murderer nearby that wanted them dead, for whatever reason?

Protesting loudly and clawing at the chains, the two were dragged away from the Scorpion Den. Their necks were already sore, and they had nicked their scales a few times from scratching at it. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the chains stopped tugging at them, and they found themselves in a small shack, probably not too far outside of the Scorpion Den. There was no other dragon that was seen or heard.

Sorocco looked at his sister, “What is this? Did you do this?” he snapped, pointing an accusative claw at her. His voice was weaker from his sore throat and neck and from the pain tightening ever so slightly around his neck.

“No, you braindead slug,” she snapped, her voice sounding scratchy and weak just like her brother's. “I know as much as you do.”

No matter how hard they tugged at the chains, clawed at them, threw themselves against the door of the shack, tried to do  _ anything _ , it all resulted in failure. It seemed that they couldn't even breathe fire as well, from how tightly the chains were wrapped around their necks.

Eventually, the two SandWings seemed to understand how futile their attempts at escape were and stopped trying. Sirocco pointed at the door, trying to alert his sister and attempting to break it, but even his movements were weak, and he couldn't land a single hit on the nearby door. His vision was spinning, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe, and it didn't help that he and his stupid sister were trapped inside some  _ dumb, small, cramped shack _ that they couldn't even  _ escape from _ —

As the chains grew tighter and tighter around their necks, the SandWings began to sink deeper and deeper into darkness, their breathing getting worse and worse and blood flowing out of their necks more and more until they lay still on the cold floor, barely able to take a single breath before their breathing stopped entirely and they went cold and limp in a puddle of their own blood.

 

\---

 

After writing the spell to kill his siblings, Qibli quickly shoved the scroll back in the hiding spot temporarily so that he could find some more berries to write with. He made a mental note to steal a quill and some ink from somewhere in the near future—maybe he could travel to the Scorpion Den and steal something from his siblings

_ They won't be needing that when they're dead. _

He plucked some berries from the same bush he had used earlier, taking another large leaf from a nearby tree as well. 

He crushed up the berries in his claws, before leaking the juice onto the leaf, and once again, folding it. He ran through a list of dragons he hated, and his mind landed on another horrible dragon.

_ My grandfather. _

After thinking of a proper punishment for him, Qibli leaned down to look at the- no,  _ his _ scroll, before writing out a spell with the juice dripping from the leaf.

 

“ _ My grandfather Vulture will be teleported to the bottom of the ocean. He can breathe underwater, though. _ ”

 

He grinned at the command. It didn’t really make one think that he’d die if he could breath water, but…

  
  


\---

 

Vulture was a careful dragon. No, he wasn’t paranoid. He knew that unless he was ganged up on (and everyone was too fearful of him to do that) he couldn’t be killed. However, he still made sure to lock everything, glance behind his shoulder every so often, stay tense when dragons were close to him.

No matter how careful he was, he couldn't have stopped what happened next to him from happening, though.

He had been leaned over his desk, idly tapping his finger on the wood. He was agitated, but that was generally a normal thing. Maybe it was him being so busy with murderous thoughts that made it even more surprising.

Although he was pretty sure anyone would be surprised by this.

While one moment he was sat in a chair, head propped on his talon, the next thing he knew, all that was visible was darkness, and stinging in his eyes. He looked around, thrashing his talons. When he did so, he realized he was underwater.

With a feeling of panic, he desperately tried to push himself up. He hit a hard ceiling, ragged with some spikes.  _ A cave roof? _

He suddenly stopped thrashing, finding that his breathing… was working. He took a long inhale, and then an exhale. He didn’t feel choked, nor like his lungs were being filled up with the liquid.

But there was still something off that he felt. His head had gone light, almost as if he had really bad seasickness.

He clenched his head, feeling as if something was pushing him down, yet he remained pressed against the ceiling of the sea cave.

His ears filled up, and his eyes, and under his scales. He writhed as the pain grew stronger, feeling as if he was being compressed. As he writhed, he felt his scales get nicked against the sharp ceiling. He opened his eyes wide, and it immediately stung. 

It all was blurry, but he could see red. Trails of red. Sunbeams of blood lashed through the water, yet they were so low…

He couldn’t think much on it, as he felt his head growing more and more dizzy. He felt like his scales were about to pop off, and tried to scream in pain as he felt as if his skin was being violently ripped off.

No scream came out.

He continued to writhe, alone in the water, as he felt the pressure continue to push against him and pull at him as if he was a piece of clay being molded.

The last thing he could ever remember was a sharp crack.

A crack of bones.

  
  


\---

 

Qibli sat with sick satisfaction as he looked over the two enchantments he had made back to back. He grinned before making sure the scroll was dry enough before rolling it up and pushing it back into its hiding place, but not before ripping off a piece of it to take with him.

Qibli glanced in the direction of the desert. The Scorpion Den wasn't far from where he was.

_ That's where my mother is. _

He could go and kill her, and steal a bunch of necessary things from her and his siblings. Sure, he could send some random dagger to kill her, but he’d rather do something much more… personal.

After checking in the shadowy hole to be absolutely positive that his scroll was well hidden, he took the small piece, clamping it between one of his talons before rising into the sky.

The trip to the Scorpion Den didn't take too long at all, especially considering that he knew the route there pretty well. He surveyed the outer edges of the Den—one guard posted near the entrance, but it didn't make much of a difference to him.

Qibli flew around the walls in the direction of his mother's hut, and as he felt he was getting closer he swooped around the walls and landing in front of the hut afterwards.

His claws twitched, digging into the sand as he stared at the house with such fury. Oh, he couldn't  _ wait _ to rip his mother apart for all of the harm that she did to him.

Wasting no time afterwards, he lunged forward and opened the door, nearly ripping it off of its hinges with how much force he was using to do so.

Qibli stalked through the small shack, and suddenly his eyes flitted to his mother. “Mother.” He could only just stop himself from laughing at the idea.

It was time for his revenge.


	3. Satisfaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings:  
> blood  
> graphic violence  
> psychotic actions/thoughts  
> graphic descriptions of wounds

# CHAPTER THREE

 ****  


    Oh, how calm she looked. So unaware that a wisp of black smoke, like a snake, was lurking just behind her. She was leaned over her desk, dipping her quill in the small bottle of ink before capping it.

    Qibli approached his unsuspecting mother, claws curled in the carpet below.

    He accidentally let a chuckle slip out. However, before his mother could even react, he ran at her. She was thrown against the desk she had been writing at, a gash along her spine from Qibli’s claws, her tail uselessly tossed to the side. She spun around, eyes briefly widening to see her son. She opened and closed her mouth, before finally speaking.

    “Qibli,” she breathed. “ _Qibli_ ,” she repeated herself, and the second time she said the name it was laced with venom.

    “Hi, mom!” Qibli chirped, approaching his infuriated mother. Little did she know the amount of rage he held in his words as well. “I decided to pay a visit.”

    “Stupid,” she spat, kicking him away when he got close. He was thrown back, hitting the wall behind him with a dull thud. “What, are you trying to get revenge? Are you gonna kill me? Kill your poor mother?” she taunted.

    Qibli stayed limp against the wall, but his claws twitched. Twitched violently.

    He slowly pushed himself up, eyeing his mother. No more faux cheeriness.

    She looked surprised from the look in his eyes. That unveiled look of pure rage, of murderous thirst for blood.

    In that moment, Qibli surged to his mother; now his expression was different, but eyes staying the same.

    He was smiling.

    He dug his claws into his mother’s neck. When she tossed him off, it just caused her to make him rip out a good portion of flesh. Blood came from the fresh wound, and she touched it with a talon, before narrowing her eyes at her son.

    “You weren’t kidding.” She laughed slightly. “Fool!”

    She lunged at him, easily overpowering him due to her strength and size.

    She slashed at his throat, ripping open a wound, blood quickly beginning to leak from it.

    She continued to do similar attacks, violent rips of scales, murderous slashes.

    She was off-guard. Too cocky.

    While she was doing this, he pulled his tail back. He dug it straight through Cobra’s lower stomach.

    The scream that erupted from her was so deliciously lovely that it aroused a giggle from Qibli. Cobra quickly backed away, staggering and clutching where he had stabbed her.

    “ _You!_ ” she spat, though her voice was weaker due to how much pain she was in.

    “Yes. Me, _mother_ ,” he said airily, approaching her. She tried to stagger away from him.

    While she was in the state, he stabbed her once again, in a similar area. She collapsed against the wall, letting out a raspy noise that replaced a scream.

    She still had the strength to speak, though.

    “You’re _weak_ ,” she spat, trying to meet his eyes. “You will never amount to anything. There was no point in bothering with such a useless piece of waste-”

    She was cut off as Qibli slashed the wounds he had already given her, opening them up further to bleed.

    “You won’t kill me!” she shrieked, but couldn’t scream it due to her state.

    “Oh, dear.” Qibli muttered, acting like he was talking to himself, yet in reality he knew perfectly well Cobra could hear. “You can still speak. We can’t have that, can we?” He laughed giddily as she watched his every movement.

    Oh, that delicious _fear_ in her eyes that betrayed what she was thinking. It made everything seem so worth it. That shaking pupil, twitchy talons that were clutching her wounds.

    “Open up!” he chirped cheerily, as he forced his mother’s jaws open.

    She struggled against his grasp, but was too weak to do much.

    He clawed at the inside of her mouth, shredding the tongue inside. He repeated doing this, again, again, until her mouth was full of blood and he couldn’t see her breathing and she couldn’t spit insults at him.

    She wasn’t unconscious. She was very awake, actually. Experiencing the worst pain she had ever experienced.

    Qibli stood over his mother’s limp body, digging one talon into her shoulder and the other savagely digging into her throat, forcing her to look at him.

    “I’m weak, right?” he said mockingly, giggling and digging his claws further into her flesh. “I’m useless. I can’t kill you!” he mocked her previous shriek.

    She tried to make a noise, but all it did was stir some of the blood leaking from her mouth, creating a bubble or two.

    What a sight she was, really. Her jaw looked like a door hanging off weak hinges, and all of her teeth were torn out, making it so the flow of blood could easily fall out of her mouth.

    What Qibli could see of her tongue was torn up, the majority ripped off, as well as long, open, bleeding gashes on the interior of her throat.

    So lovely. So weak. So _helpless._

    He laughed at her, throwing her against the wall. She hit it with a sharp crack, then a thud as she hit the floor.

    He was about to spin around and leave, but then he spotted something.

    He headed over to what had been knocked off of the desk she had been looking at. There wasn’t much: unimportant papers here, a small cactus plant with a shattered pot there, and…

    He grinned.

    Just what he needed.

    There was a quill covered in its original owner’s blood. He tucked it in a small bag he had slung around his waist, while also grabbing the cracked pot of ink, trying his best to prevent it from leaking everywhere.

    _I can fix this with an animus spell no problem._

    He looked once more at his mother’s body, her wheezing, hardly visible from such a small rise of her chest, continuing, but gradually growing less and less.

    He couldn’t help himself, and kicked the body of his mother, before running out of the shack.

    He looked around, attempting to slide back around the shack to leave in the same direction he had entered from.

    He slipped by the small, weathered shack, glancing inside one of the windows only to see that it was very foggy, the only visible thing being red.

    Alas, he leapt into the air, easily exiting the Scorpion Den.

    His flight back was going smoothly, that is, until…

    There was a loud gasp, followed by wing flaps from behind him. He spun around, readying himself for an attack.

    He relaxed slightly when he saw the dragons who had seen him. Ah, Queen Thorn and Six-Claws.

    As he studied their confused and terrified expressions, he realized how he must have looked.

    Covered in his mother’s blood, claws dripping with the red substance, not to mention the fresh gashes along his throat and chest.

    “Qibli!” Thorn seemed to compose herself, approaching him. He studied her with a neutral expression. “What- what _happened_?” she cried, “Why aren’t you at the Jade Mountain?”

    "Oh," Qibli said, shooting a glance at the tall mountain peaks in the distance behind him before meeting the two other SandWings' gazes again. "I was just taking care of some... unfinished business, to put it simply."

    Thorn looked confused, but shook her head. “It can’t have been important enough to abandon your school!”

    Qibli chuckled, “I assure you, it was _very_ important.”

    “I don’t care, Qibli.” The Queen's tone turned stern, “Now tell me, why are you _covered_ in blood? You’re injured!”

    “Just some troubles.” He shrugged, “It’s fine.”

    “No,” she argued, “Tell me who-”

    He cut her off, getting impatient. “Listen. Thorn, Six-Claws. I’m glad I ran into you guys.”

    At first Thorn looked like she might scold him for cutting her off, but her expression quickly turned confused. “...huh?”

    “Just let me speak.” He snorted, “This is the only time I’ll ask you…”

    He raised his talon, still dripping with blood towards the two. He tilted his head slightly, also covered in blood, and slightly opening his wounds more by doing this.

    “Would you like to join me?”

    The two looked at him, silently. From his torn throat, to his smile, to his dripping talon.

    Six-Claws eyes briefly went wide.

    “N… no!” Thorn suddenly exclaimed. “I don’t know what is up with you, Qibli, but-”

    “Oh, be quiet,” he snapped. “I have my answer.” His annoyed expression suddenly turned amused, and he smiled at the two. “Very well then.”

    That was the last thing he saw of the two, before spinning around and zooming in the other direction, back towards the forest and his scroll. He could hear them calling for him, loud, desperate bellows eventually growing quiet.

    He touched a dripping talon to his snout, giggling to himself. Maybe they were fools, very stupid pawns, but at least they were entertaining.

    Well, it was time to return to the rest of the Jade Winglet.

    Maybe something… _fun_ would happen.

 


	4. Achievement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:  
> blood  
> death  
> graphic violence  
> graphic descriptions of wounds  
> psychotic thoughts/actions

Qibli arrived back at his hiding spot, checking to see if his scroll was there.

It was.

_ Thank the moons, _ he thought, taking out his small scrap of paper. He found a flatter area to write on, and he took out the stolen quill and ink bottle—thankfully it had hardly spilled anywhere, but that didn't matter to him. Dipping the quill into the ink, he began to write a simple enchantment on the ripped paper, placing the ink bottle on top of it to hold it down.

 

" _ This ink bottle will no longer have any cracks on it. It will always be full of ink, will never leak any ink, and will be unable to be broken by anything. _ "

 

After he wrote down the enchantment, he watched as the cracks slowly shrunk, and before long all of the cracks it previously had were now gone, leaving the bottle with smooth edges. The ink inside was now almost overflowing, but Qibli knew that he now had an infinite source of it.

After he finished he hurried back to the cave, shoving the scroll inside along with the bottle and the quill. He then hurried back to where the Jade Winglet had decided to hide— _ Like a bunch of cowards _ , thought Qibli as he walked in the direction of their temporary camp.

As he neared the spot where the other dragons were, he began to hear voices. He stood in the shadows, deciding to eavesdrop for a bit before he revealed himself.

"...no sign of anybody who could have stolen the scroll," Winter's voice was saying, traces of anger and annoyance in his words.

"Maybe my da—I mean, Chameleon, came and stole it from us. Somehow. I dunno how, but, if he wanted the scroll back, he definitely would have tracked us down here." That was Peril's voice, and Qibli's claws dug into the soft grass below.  _ She'll have to be dealt with in a special way. Can't have some firescales trying to ruin my plans by burning everything. _

_ That's  _ my _ job. Causing the chaos around here. _

"How could he have gotten here though? Ooh, maybe he used one of his other forms to track us down easier." Qibli heard Kinkajou's voice and scowled. That stupid, annoying RainWing should have never woken up. Turtle should have never healed her the way he did.

_ Well, all the more reason to kill them myself. _

Before anyone could say anything else, Qibli emerged from the shadows, aware that he still had dried blood stained on his scales with a few visible injuries here and there. Moon, Winter, Peril and Kinkajou all turned their attention to him, their expressions ranging from horrified to worried to suspicious.

"What happened to you?" Moon immediately asked, her expression a mix of worried and suspicious, but he knew that she might know the answer to her question already, judging from how close he was so that she would be able to read his mind.

_ I wish I hadn't lost that stupid skyfire _ , he thought bitterly before turning to the others, putting on his sweet, cheerful demeanor again.

"Oh, I thought I had found the dragon who had stolen the scroll!" he answered. "There was a fight, but he got away, and I couldn't really see much of him." He hoped that it was a convincing enough lie. He was so tired of lying at this point, because it felt so wrong and fake. Every dragon he knew needed to know his true colours.

Moon's expression turned horrified, clearly hearing all of his horrible, horrible thoughts. He tried not to look fazed as she turned to the others and whispered, "He's lying."

Qibli's eyes widened, pretending to be surprised. "What? No I'm not!"

"He  _ is _ ," Moon said, louder and more firm this time. "I took away his skyfire really early on because I had heard some horrible things in his mind. I wanted to keep an eye on him, to keep you all safe." She took a shaky breath. "He's been doing... horrible things. He...  _ he _ stole the scroll from us.

Qibli laughed gleefully. "Alright then," he said. "I guess the truth is out." He grinned, pointing to himself. "Yes,  _ I _ was the one who stole the scroll from you all. It was easy though, because  _ you _ —" he pointed towards Moon, and the NightWing shrunk back, "—were terrible at hiding and guarding it. So, it's mine now, and you won't be able to stop me."

"What have you been doing with it?" Turtle asked in a low voice, and Qibli growled at him. He was an animus, just like him—well, sort of. The only difference was that Qibli had to carry around some scroll and waste time writing his enchantments, while the SeaWing only had to say them aloud or think them. He made a mental note to try and take him out in a convenient way, or maybe even try to remove his animus powers somehow.

"I was finishing up some business. Revenge, rather," the SandWing replied, constantly looking over the other dragons' faces. It filled him with such  _ joy _ that they looked so afraid of him.

Well, except for one IceWing in particular.

Winter turned towards Qibli and, without any warning, he lunged at the SandWing, claws outstretched, ready to slash at him.

Caught off guard, Qibli fell backwards as Winter's sharp claws slashed across his chest. The wound stung and left an icy cold pain where he was hit, red blood beginning to seep out of the open wound, running over Cobra’s dry blood with fresh blood of his own. Thankfully, he hadn't opened any of his previous injuries from his fight with Cobra, though.

Qibli leapt up in an instant, not willing to back down from any sort of fight. "So," Qibli said, taking a pace forward, flicking his tongue in and out. "You're choosing to play  _ that _ game, huh?"

"This isn't a  _ game _ , you lying traitor!" Winter roared, leaping at Qibli again. Luckily, the SandWing was more prepared this time, and jumped out of the way just in time before leaping onto Winter's back and digging his sharp claws into his scales, before shaking around his claws to widen the wound, pale flesh easily torn through. Bright blue blood began seeping from the wounds as Qibli ripped his claws out, splattering blue blood on himself. 

The IceWing roared in fury and pain and managed to shake Qibli off. The SandWing hit his back against a tree, and the spot that slammed against the tree began stinging in pain. As Qibli got up, trying to hide how much his injuries hurt, he saw Winter standing just before him, preparing to shoot a blast of his deadly ice breath.

Qibli darted to the side as Winter shot his ice breath before he used a breath weapon his own tribe had: fire. It seemed to work, as Winter staggered backwards, screaming in his growing pain.

Moon, Turtle, Kinkajou and Peril were all watching the battle with wide, horrified eyes, but none of them made a move to join in the battle. Qibli shot a quick, taunting look at them, as if to say, " _ Go on. Join your friend and die by his side. _ "

Winter clutched the spot where he had been burned, his scales darkening from the burn marks. He jumped at Qibli again, this time managing to hold the SandWing down and tear open one of the wounds that Cobra had given him.

Qibli screamed, fresh blood leaking out of his wounds. Winter would have been able to do so much more, but Qibli was more than prepared for the IceWing's disgusting tricks.

Qibli shot a large blast of fire breath right into Winter's face, and the IceWing's grip loosened as he staggered backwards, falling onto the grass below. Blue blood began seeping more from all of the IceWing’s wounds, staining both his own scales and the grass around him. His eyes were tightly closed and his talons were pressed against them, as if the touch were able to help with the pain that he was experiencing. Under his talons were burned and fleshy eyelids, only a slight remainder of flesh remaining to uselessly cover his blackened eyes.

Blinded and unable to see what Qibli's next move was, Winter was unable to defend himself from Qibli immediately throwing him to the ground and using his venomous tail to stab directly where Winter's heart was. The tip of his tail easily dug straight through his scales and flesh, making a deliciously violent creaking noise, causing Qibli to stifle a chuckle.

"Winter!" several voices shouted from behind Qibli, their tone horrified. The venom wound was growing larger, slowly but surely, cold pale blue and silver scales blackening, and Winter didn't seem to have enough strength to move for much longer.

Qibli grinned, even though Winter, who was still covering his eyes from the harsh burns, couldn't see it. "Aw, is the nephew of Queen Glacier too weak to fight?" he growled mockingly, each word coming out slowly. He knew that those words were sure to sting, considering how much the IceWing emphasized his royal heritage. “The  _ almighty prince of the IceWings _ ?” 

He recalled how he had said similar things such as that when putting on his mask of cheery light-heartedness.

Winter said nothing, just letting out low moans of pain, shaking and shivering with each heavy breath he took, as if, even if he was an IceWing, was in a terrible storm, unable to think, breath, and move.

Qibli raised his head, still smiling in a sickly way. "Guess what," he said, so casually and cheerful, and raised his tail and stabbed it in the center of his stomach, “You don’t seem to be able to fight back against a mere poor peasant, do you?”

More venom spread out through the IceWing's scales, and all Winter could do was let out a small, feeble cry of pain. It both amused Qibli and made him so, so happy to see the usually angry, rude, and snappy IceWing being reduced to a weak pile of nothing, unable to say anything or fight back.

Qibli slowly hovered above Winter, gathering up his fire breath before he shot blasts of it all over the IceWing's cold scales.

Winter couldn't even yell out in pain any more. The venom was spreading more and more throughout his pale blue, white, and silvery coloured scales, and Qibli was sure that he would die at any moment.

Qibli glanced at the others sitting and staring at Winter, practically paralyzed with fear.  _ It was a good thing I got  _ him _ out of the way. _

"Peril!" Moon suddenly cried, and Qibli watched as Peril rushed over to Winter, inspecting the wounds he had given him. He was rising higher and higher, and he was about to fly away and leave them to deal with their dying friend before he saw the SkyWing accidentally lower one of her talons to Winter's scales.

Peril instantly jumped back, and Qibli saw with unintentional sick satisfaction that her talon had been pressed against the IceWing's neck. Even if it was only for a moment, he could see burn marks the size and shape of Peril's talon beginning to form on Winter's scales. The injured IceWing’s jaw twitched, unable to even open it fully in a soundless scream. 

Seeing enough, and knowing that Winter had been dealt with, Qibli flew off back to his hiding spot, hoping that he was able to use it to clean off the blood and wounds on his scales.


	5. Accomplishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings for:
> 
> graphic thoughts and descriptions of violence / wounds / death  
> murderous / psychotic thoughts / actions  
> mass murder / genocide  
> death / murder in a fire  
> not being in control of your own body

The first thing Qibli did next was enchant all his wounds to be healed.

He took a small nearby leaf, placed it on the scroll, and wrote out his simple enchantment:

 

" _ When I rub this leaf against one of my wounds, all traces of it will be gone and it will be fully healed. _ "

 

While it was a bit awkward at some points, Qibli eventually managed to heal all of the wounds that he had gotten from the battles with Cobra and Winter. He also found a nearby river and while getting wet disgusted him, he still washed off all of the excess blood that came from Cobra and Winter that was still lingering on him.

He himself didn’t mind the blood, but he didn’t want to be pointed out for the bloodstains. After finishing washing the red and blue substances off, he returned to his scroll, blankly staring at it. 

_ I need to make some plans… _ he thought, holding the talisman in his talons.  _ I need a blank scroll I can use to write things down. _

He carefully took out the quill and ink bottle, as well as taking a nearby twig and placing it down on the talisman, before he began writing after dipping the quill.

 

_ “This twig will turn into a blank scroll- it cannot be torn or ripped unless I enchant otherwise. It can only be written on by me.” _

 

Immediately, the twig began morphing into a flat scroll, with nothing written on it. Qibli smiled in satisfaction, returning the talisman to the small cave before picking up the quill again. His mind whirled with the possibilities of what he could do to some of the other dragons before getting a few ideas and jotting them down on the blank scroll.

As he leaned against the rock, he felt ideas flow straight from his brain, to his talon, to the scroll he was writing on. His eyes lit up with sadistic glee with each new idea that he wrote down. An easy flow of words written in black ink, using the quill that still was coated in his mother’s dried blood.

As he did this, he really understood how much power he had now that it was down on paper. He could do  _ anything _ , no matter how outlandish or seemingly impossible. All he wished was that he could watch the fate of all of these dragons, but even if he found some loophole to watch it easily, it would still take time that he didn’t care to spend. Still…

He pulled back the quill, and scanned the list he had compiled. He had almost already completely covered the scroll with his messy handwriting. He set down the quill next to the ink pot, and leaned back, carefully re-reading each spell idea to make sure it was perfect. 

Qibli, deciding he was satisfied with the list so far, pulled out the talisman. He stretched out the scroll he had been writing on, and put rocks on the corners to keep it from folding in so he could easily read it. 

He dipped the quill in the ink pot again, and got to work on the first thing on the list.

 

_ "Moonwatcher will no longer have mind reading and future seeing powers. Turtle will no longer have his animus powers.” _

 

He pulled the quill back up. It was a simple spell, and one he had known he’d have to do for awhile now. He giggled in childish glee at the thought of Moonwatcher’s utter terror as well as Turtle’s confusion once they found out.

 

\---

 

Moonwatcher was not in the best state of mind. She hadn’t been since she first heard those gruesome thoughts coming from a particular SandWing in her winglet. They weren't like Winter's, they were something else entirely. Something else that he could supposedly block just by putting on a cheery exterior. While Winter’s really were never the best either, his were just cold and rude a lot of the time. He never  _ actually _ could hurt someone with such malicious intent. Qibli, on the other hand…

She sighed, digging her face into her front talons, frustration coursing through her. They hadn’t moved far since Qibli’s sudden attack and Winter's death, as there wasn’t much they could even  _ do _ now that they had lost the talisman. But they had moved closer to Jade Mountain. Close enough for her to have been communicating with Darkstalker for the past few hours.

When she had first explained the situation, the angry reaction terrified her to no end, but Darkstalker must have figured out how she felt because he calmed down fairly fast. But still, she could hear that new sense of complete hopelessness in his voice. 

Even now.

“ _ Hey, Moon? _ ”

She wasn’t too surprised by the sudden interaction. He seemed to have been eager to talk at every chance now that she was back, especially since the news that he had lost his talisman.

_ Hmm? _

“ _ You do realize what he can do now, right? _ ”

Moon groaned. She had been reminded of this at least fifteen times now. She didn’t respond, and instead she slumped into where she was sitting further.

At her lack of response, Darkstalker sighed. 

“ _ He’s going to kill you. _ ”

Moon choked on the air she was breathing, taking a few moments to actually calm herself. Of course, it was obvious, Qibli almost definitely would kill more of the winglet off. But hearing it so bluntly made her want to recoil into herself.

_ At least I’m not going to be starving under a rock for eternity! _

His voice went quiet, and she regretted what she said. She just wished he wasn’t so  _ insensitive _ . Although perhaps the same could be said about her.

Moon looked up at the other dragonets around her, most sleeping, or at least trying. She gave up eventually. She tried to push away her little raindrop trick so she could make sure no one was nearby, and she heard no one. In fact…

She frowned, as she tried to focus on Kinkajou in particular. Usually she’d hear the dull static noise of the Skyfire, but now it was just nothing. Just the normal sounds of the forest.

As she tried to dip into some of the other dragonets' minds, she found the same thing come up.

She jumped up in worry, rushing over to Kinkajou’s side, and gently shaking her shoulder. The small RainWing stirred slightly, before blinking her eyes open and looking up at Moon with drowsy eyes.

_ At least she was able to sleep _ .

“Kinkajou,” Moon began in a worried whisper before the RainWing could say anything, “my mind reading is being weird- I don’t know if it’s working…”

Kinkajou pushed herself up into a sitting position, eyeing Moon with a frown that didn’t seem like something from her.

“How do you know? Can’t you not hear us with the Skyfires?”

Moon nodded, and sat down. “Yes, but I can still hear this little humming noise when you guys have the Skyfire. Now it's just pure quiet.”

Kinkajou’s expression turned worried. “I… I can put mine away for a second so you can see if there really is an issue…” She seemed reluctant but determined nonetheless.

Moon smiled with gratitude. “Thank you.”

Kinkajou opened the small pouch from around her neck and took out the black rock that was inside. She placed it in the grass nearby before turning back to Moon. "See if it works now."

Moon tried. She really, really did, but all she could hear was nothing coming from the RainWing's usually loud mind.

"Nothing." 

Moon really felt tired, almost as if fatigue had just flooded her. She sighed, gently leaning against her friend. “I wish this was a dream. He really did it.”

Kinkajou’s confused expression turned to a shocked one as she must have realized what Moon was talking about. “Oh, dear…” she mumbled.

Moon suddenly thought of something, and her eyes drifted over to Turtle’s (supposedly) sleeping frame. She knew that it was almost definite that Qibli had done what she thought he had done to the SeaWing.

She didn’t even bother waking him up to check, just felt as if there were big weights placed on her. Kinkajou, most likely noticing her expression, gently lay her tail on top of the NightWing’s. “We should try to think positive, hey?”

Moon wanted to.  _ Really _ wanted to. But with all these bad thoughts plaguing her, it fogged everything too much for her to properly think any way other than negatively.

“I can’t.”

 

\---

 

Qibli knew he should quickly get to work on the next spell. So, shortly after writing the first of his planned enchantments down, he quickly wrote the next one down on the talisman.

 

_ "Every dragon in the Jade Winglet has a constant sense of dread and paranoia. It feels as if they're constantly being followed, but there's nothing that they can do about it." _

 

Sure, these two enchantments weren't as deadly as, say, killing someone, but Qibli wanted to have some fun tampering with other dragons' emotions before he eventually had to kill them.

After all, with the talisman, he could do anything he wished.

Case in point, after a small break celebrating his new spell being cast, Qibli immediately began writing the next thing on his list of plans.

 

“ _ Hit the NightWing volcano island with several tsunamis and hurricanes, before flooding the entire island and making sure every dragon on it dies. _ ”

 

Maybe a bit extreme, but it would do the job. Besides, it was the NightWings' fault for wanting to stay on their disgusting volcano instead of just agreeing to have a RainWing rule over them. He leaned back, tilting his head against the rock. 

_ The RainWings should be pleased when they realize what has happened to that wretched island. _

 

\---

 

It didn’t take long for the realization to dawn upon almost every NightWing on the volcanic island;  _ something is wrong _ .

Perhaps it started gradually, with just increased numbers of rain (although that in itself was odd, considering how little rain the island usually got.) But it got worse fairly fast. The rain became worse, often creating flooding in the NightWings’ separate dens.

And one fateful day, the NightWings could feel the ground beneath them rumbling. Not something huge, but noticeable nonetheless. It was later when it really became obvious.

There were sirens around the island, along with many guards flying over civilians to tell them to “ _ Fly up! Get to higher ground! _ ” 

Even if these warnings were given, it all happened so fast for many to even properly understand what was going on. In what seemed like seconds later, there was water. A  _ lot  _ of water. Bone-crushing, speeding water. Some lucky NightWings had managed to realize what was going on and fly up, but they could see the devastation below. Debris of large rocks and boulders, and well as entire trees had been caught up in the surge of water. Because of this debris, along with the pressure of the water itself, dragons quickly were crushed, or some really unlucky ones drowned or were ripped apart from the pressure and sharp objects flying around.

Some of those who had flown up and gone down only slightly intending to perhaps get someone they saw out, but were quickly pulled in with a speed that it was hardly visible to see them being sucked into the water.

It took hours for it all to calm down, and once it was done, any NightWing could agree the devastation resembled the explosion of the volcano that happened years ago.

It was later, only a few days in fact, that another one hit. As the NightWings were struggling to survive with the complete lack of resources and their destroyed home, they became much weaker. It was not really a surprise when the small amount of them remaining were wiped out, and the island itself reduced to what seemed only like a charred rock, molded and melded from the crashing debris and water.

 

\---

 

Qibli smiled, satisfied with what he had done. He glanced back at the list. And a grin curled into his features, and he almost seemed to resemble the Cheshire Cat. He folded his talons, before picking up his quill again.

 

" _ Peril will go to the Scorpion Den and burn down the entire place. Every time she watches a dragon melt and die from her fire, she will gain another cut on her scales, and she will slowly bleed out from the many cuts within her own fire _ ."

 

Grotesque, really, he knew. But that just made it more exciting. This one he knew he couldn’t pass up seeing… the place he so despised up in a blaze, and the pain-ridden look that would be in Peril’s face. He joyfully clapped his talons together, before hiding both scrolls and the ink and pushing himself up into the sky afterwards.  _ Maybe I’ll see some dragons I recognize _ .

 

\---

 

One moment, Peril was minding her own business with the rest of the Jade Winglet, and the next, she was involuntarily flying towards the desert.

More specifically, she realized as she neared, the Scorpion Den.

Peril could remember the look on the dragon's face she had been talking with- Turtle. She had been having a more one-sided chat about what had been happening recently, as well as her own guilt for what had happened with Winter, before she felt the compulsion to leave- actually, it was less a compulsion and more a forceful pull. Turtle’s worried expression changed to confused as she burst into flight mid-sentence.

And now she was here, heading straight for the slightly familiar city in the desert. At first, during her flight, she had been terrified, thinking to herself,  _ What in the three moons is going on? _

It was later when she gave it more thought the only thing that really seemed logical popped into her head.

_ Qibli. _

She had been horrified. What was he going to force her to do? And now, she figured, she would find out.

She landed in the center of the city, near the oasis. Many flammable things were immediately in sight, and as much as she didn't want to burn anything, she was practically forced to seconds later. It was as if she was a puppet, being controlled by strings and unable to do anything on her own anymore. She had no way to cut those strings.

Peril immediately began setting nearby things on fire- against her will, of course- with a simple wave of her talon. A few nearby SandWings flew over to put out the flames, horror in their eyes. As they neared, however, Peril dove over to them and pressed her talons against their scales.

She couldn’t help but be reminded of the SkyWing arena as she witnessed what happened next.

Their scales were immediately set ablaze, and Peril couldn't help but seeing burn marks already forming from where her talons made contact. The SandWings screamed, trying to dispel the building fire, and as more and more SandWings came to try and help their companions, they too were set on fire.

Peril felt sick. She hated this.

A SandWing collapsed nearby, and as Peril's bright blue eyes darted over to watch the fallen dragon, she felt a sudden sharp, stinging pain on her scales.

She then realized that there was blood dripping from a spot on the lower part of her front left leg. She blinked, before looking around in horror.

_ Thud.  _ Another slash.

_ Crack _ . One on her cheek.

_ Thunk. _ One on her wing.

She could see that the dragons that had not been set on fire were staying away, clearly realizing the kind of power she held. She felt herself lunge at them, hitting them with her tail, wing, talon, whatever she could, really.

More slashes.

More burns.

More scales being reduced to just a dripping black sludge.

The more dragons she watched burn, the more slashes and cuts Peril gained on her scales, creating more and more places for blood to leak out of.

She witnessed as she ran through the streets of the city, stretching her wings out to touch all of the buildings and homes, feeling very much like a simple bystander to the massacre.

Everything was quickly set ablaze, the fire being spread throughout the city by any means possible. She could hear the screams from the dragons inside the buildings, as well as the last croaking wails of the dragons she had burnt in the square.

Dull, faraway  _ thuds _ followed by stinging places in her cheek, legs, wings, belly, spine, neck-

She only began realizing how her entire body had become coated with her own bright red blood after she reached out her arm to burn another dragon. As she did this she could see how the blood had created clots under her scales, with the cuts even worse. She couldn’t even gasp when she realized what Qibli was planning to do.

_ No, no, no, no, no, no! _

But she couldn’t do anything to stop it.

She desperately felt like crying as she sped through the fiery city, the pain now almost numb. As she hobbled down the streets, finding herself slowing because of the many wounds all over her, she began to feel lightheaded.

After a long while of feeling like this, she stumbled over, and felt her legs give away, whatever strange thing that had possessed her finally seeming to give up. The screams of pain and agony of the remaining dragons filled her ears. Both smoke and fire seemed to cover the entirety of the city like fog.

Her legs hurt from running on them with the cuts covering them. She was coated in these cuts, almost like a sick abstract art piece. The blood was pooling her body, and her limbs were twitching with what seemed like a desperateness to get up.

Her breath grew raspy as the smoke filled her lungs, and she let out a low pitched groan. She was hardly aware of the few dragons that hadn’t been harmed running over to hover nearby, looking ready to dart away as soon as she got up or began to do so. 

Blood bubbled in her mouth, and she coughed the vile, metallic liquid onto the sandy dirt nearby. At some point in her lightheadedness, the sound had begun to drain out, and the screams were now a distant blur of a far-away reminder of her crimes.

Perhaps this was the reason she felt herself growing calmer as the world faded away further, pushing away the blood spill and the burning and the smoke till her vision was just an eerie white and all she could hear was a quiet buzz. She wasn’t even sure when everything truly slipped away.


	6. Your Favorite Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings:  
> psychotic thoughts/actions  
> self harm/suicide  
> detailed description of wounds/blood

CHAPTER SIX

 

Moon couldn’t believe her eyes.

That same feeling had occurred a lot lately, with the whole Qibli-and-Winter battle as well as losing the talisman and then having to deal with Darkstalker, soon followed by completely losing her mind-reading abilities as well as her seer ones, and _then_ Peril went missing. Not to mention that not long after, they had confirmed their suspicions about Turtle's animus powers being gone.

Moon was feeling _really_ helpless right now.

After a lot of discussion, the Winglet had completely left the forest to stay in a cross-tribe village to at the very least not be in the same place that Qibli had last seen them. Moon figured she should take a look at the daily paper, to see if she could see any news relating to what might be Qibli.

And she froze in fear as soon as she read the headline for the paper.

_Ex-Champion of the SkyWings Burns Down the Scorpion Den._

Moon fumbled with the parchment, and quickly scanned the article. Surely it was a mistake, right? _It_ has _to be._

“ _Recently, a well known centre used for business and residence, known for being accepting of all tribes, was burned to the ground. Within the charred remains of the town, was the latest Champion of the SkyWing arena, famous for having deadly fire-scales as well as being one of Ex-Queen Scarlet’s most loyal followers, Peril. She was found covered in what was soon to be discovered her own blood as well as small cuts. It only seemed logical that these cuts were given by the desperate dragons from the village soon before their demise. …”_

Moon didn’t want to read further. None of it made any sense. She _knew_ Peril. The dragon had completely given up her violent tendencies, and at the time Moon had met her, she couldn’t hurt anyone, _especially_ if they were innocent and helpless.

Which only meant that one thing was possible.

 _Qibli_.

****

\---

****

Qibli looked over the charred Scorpion Den. He had arrived a bit late, due to Peril being a SkyWing and being able to fly faster than him, but he did come soon enough to see the flames licking at the air, turning the blue to a dark grey with smoke. He had only seen Peril for a few moments, running around with a glazed look in her eyes, covered in blood that was mostly her own.

It was odd for Qibli to see. He was ecstatic of course, but also strange to see something he had yearned for his entire life actually come true so easily. Eventually, when the smoke had thickened, he found himself needing to leave due to it becoming harder to breath. 

After flying for awhile, till the air was completely clear, and he had arrived back to the forest he had come from, he descended to the green from below. He headed through the now familiar forest until he reached the all too familiar spot of where he always was when he conducted his spells.

He reached into the hole where he always hid his animus scroll and yanked it out, along with the ink bottle and the scroll with all of his plans on it. The rush of energy he always got from seeing the talisman never got old, and it was a constant reminder that he could do anything he wanted to with it.

After checking his supplies over to make sure they weren't damaged, (they weren't) he began to copy the next spell down from his planning scroll.

****

_"All five of the Dragonets of Destiny- Clay, Tsunami, Queen Glory, Starflight, and Sunny- will be teleported back to the cave they grew up in. All of the nearby water sources will be drained and blocked off, and they will slowly die from dehydration."_

****

As Qibli read those sentences over and over again, a sadistic smile grew on his face. The Dragonets of Destiny were smart, he could admit that- but that also meant that they could uncover all of his secrets and plans much easier than other dragons could. They had single-handedly stopped an entire _war_ , for moons sake!

Which is why they had to die, of course.

****

\---

****

    It really didn’t matter what Glory had been doing at that very moment. Whether speaking with Deathbringer, or watching the dragons in the village, or even picking flowers, a very rare occasion for her, because as soon as what happened happened she knew whatever happened next would be inevitable.

    Glory wasn’t stupid, no matter how much the NightWings seemed to insist it. She was young, hardly even an adult, yet she led the RainWings with determination and brought them from being pathetic and useless to a respectable and noble tribe again, with some small amounts of help from her friends. Along with this she was also busy helping with Jade Mountain. So she couldn’t be stupid to have gotten to the point she was at now.

    And this is why she immediately recognized an inescapable situation.

    One moment she was listening to the complaints of one of the dragons from her tribes, nodding in the right places and speaking in the others, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to actually implement the changes that they were asking for. But the next moment she only had a moment to feel something she hadn’t felt in awhile- since the NightWing Exodus, when going through the animus tunnels- that odd _tingle_ she had when something was being used both for her or against her- _animus power_.

    But after that split second she found that she was in an all-too-familiar position, sitting on the ledge she had been on for the first six years of her life, looking over the cramped cave that she could remember being stuck in day and night until that one fateful day where she and her friends had escaped to stop the SandWing Succession War.

    But, of course with her terrible luck, she was stuck back there.

    She had panicked when it first happened, before grounding herself. This was animus magic. Panicking did no good when it came to this. Soon after, she had realized she wasn’t alone. She could see her friends- Clay, Sunny, Tsunami, Starflight, also there, so she knew that it wasn’t specifically _her_ being targeted.

It was the infamous Dragonets of Destiny, all being targeted together.

    Of course, the first reason she realized they were there was the yells and shrieks coming from someone who could only be Tsunami, in harmony with Sunny and Starflight’s confused yelps and current of questions.

    Glory herself was startled, but not nearly as surprised as she would be if she had never dealt with animus magic before, which her friends _had_ done. Nonetheless.

    Once Tsunami had stopped her yelling, assumingly from her running out of air for her to shriek with, Glory jumped in with a demanding, loud question that made her seem more reluctant to continue yelling.

    “Everyone, _yes mainly you Tsunami_ , shut up for the three moon’s sake. This is weird, but screaming isn’t helping. _Now_ ,” she cleared her throat, looking over the Dragonets of Destiny, “we need to think how we can get out. I think it’s quite obvious that it is an animus that did this to us, although I'm not sure how many of you actually thought of this.” She shot a glare at Tsunami. “Nonetheless, it is obvious that the boulder is stuck in place. However, we should look for a way to get out.”

    Tsunami opened and closed her mouth, as if struggling to think of what to say. “Well, _genius_ , I don’t know if you saw, but behind you there appears to be no river. Y’know, _the one that was used to escape_.”

    At her words, Glory spun around, and sure enough, it was true. The river was completely drained. She cleared her throat, humming quietly, before jumping down from the ledge. She jumped into the ditch that once held water, and crawled along it, into the dry hole that was once filled with water and led out. However, as she crawled along, she was soon stopped by a cluster of rocks blocking the way. No matter how much she pushed and pulled at the rocks, it didn’t budge one bit, and she couldn’t help but be reminded of the large boulder at the entrance.

****

    The next few days went by in a blur. When Glory had told the news about the drained and blocked river to the others, they were not happy, Tsunami especially. _Not happy_ might have been an extreme understatement, because as soon as Glory _had_ told them the news, her friends were back to freaking out once again.

    It had continued like that for the next few days. The cave was almost never silent, with at least one dragon freaking out or crying or _something_ of that sort. They had tried to desperately search for any other exits that they could use to escape, but they found nothing of that sort.

    They were trapped, just like they had been for the first six years of their life. Only this time, they really _couldn't_ escape, even if they wanted to.

    While observing the other dragonets, over the next few days she had noticed that Tsunami had been acting odd (which apparently hadn’t been picked up by the others judging from Clay’s confusion when she mentioned it. She stuffed it somewhere in her head to mention it to Starflight sometime, because by the moons, she knew that Clay’s word didn’t really represent the entire group very efficiently.) And no, “odd” didn’t mean the yelling and the occasional furious body slam against the boulder at the entrance. It meant pacing. A lot of pacing. Sometimes she’d start drooling when lost in thought, and Glory could even see that she was more wheezing than breathing.

    And now, as Glory really thought about it, her thoughts wandered to the drowsy days that only seemed a blur now. The days she had been curled up on a tree by Scarlet’s side, mostly unaware of both the screams from the dragons in the arena as well as the joyful cheering from dragons in the crowd. But when Tsunami had went to fight, that was when she found her resolve clearing just in the slightest. 

    She could remember the shape of another SeaWing fighting Tsunami, and now as she thought back to it it all seemed so obvious. The days where Tsunami had been acting so strangely now seemed to make sense.

    Maybe this was why, almost immediately at this realization, she rushed to speak with the SeaWing.

    “Tsunami,” she muttered, her tone even. She figured she could at the very least address her calmly, considering what she was about to say. “Remember your father?”

    Yep, expected response. A grief-filled expression, followed by a painful blow from Tsunami’s tail to her side. Glory stumbled slightly, before looking up to meet Tsunami’s eyes.

And anger wasn’t enough to cover what was showing in Tsunami’s gaze. “Oh, no. I just _completely_ forgot,” she snapped, the rage in her voice catching the attention of the other dragons, “what do you want?”

“I wasn’t trying to be insensitive,” Glory snapped defensively, before levelling herself. _You deserved that. You can’t wave that topic around so calmly_ . “I was just thinking, er…” Yep, and now she was going to have to follow that up with something equally, if not _more_ insensitive. “I’ve just noticed you’ve acted a bit off in the last few days, and I know that we don’t have access to water.”

The hurt was clear in Tsunami’s eyes, and she backed up. “Are you _serious_? Oh, I’ll humor you. So what?” The words were filled with clearly restrained fury.

“I think that the lack of water has been starting to take effect.”

That veiled anger was no longer held back in what she said next.

“Oh, what kind of judge _are you_ for that? You were pumped full of drugs during that whole ordeal! You could hardly see anything! You were being lazy and cuddling with a tree while Scarlet taunted me. What can _you_ say? Did the tree tell you what was going on? Or did that stuff make you hallucinate as well?” The string of angered words came out quickly, with spit coming from Tsunami’s mouth, and her body language completely tensed. She had to pause to breath. 

Glory decided to use the pause to her advantage. “While I do admit Scarlet had me acting odd, during that time the effects had started to wear off. I can assure you that what I remember was not a hallucination.” What came next was something she just couldn’t hold back. “Do you want me to explain in more detail? How you ripped your own father apart, just to prove to someone like _Scarlet_ that you-”

She really wasn’t surprised at what came next, both from her taunting and Tsunami’s quickly fleeing restraint from what Glory could only assume was the lack of water.

The air was knocked out of her when Tsunami slammed into Glory. She looked like she wanted to roar in the RainWing’s face, but was stopped when the other dragons pulled Tsunami off. The SeaWing was spitting and clawing at the air, eyes shining with such strong rage that Glory flinched, knowing that that rage was being addressed at her from a lifelong friend.

****

The following days only proved that what seemed impossible possible, or in other words, the current terrible situation getting worse.

It seemed that the other dragons had almost completely given up on escaping, save for  Sunny. The wails of grief that used to constantly be around were replaced by muffled weeping, now instead filled with hopelessness rather than sadness.

A few times Glory had found herself even having to stifle her own weeping. By the moons, how was that her fault? The amount of desperate negativity in the air was nearly contagious.

The whole thing with Tsunami seemed to have calmed down, as she wasn’t actively attempting to kill Glory every chance she got, but she _had_ settled for just flat-out ignoring the RainWing.

And, as Glory suspected would happen, the SeaWing had gotten worse in terms of the symptoms she had seen, and of course there were also things happening to the other dragons (including her) from just being dehydrated. Or at least everyone else except for Sunny, who, being at least half-SandWing could last without water for awhile.

Tsunami definitely had it the worst, though. Her drooling had become almost constant, no matter how much she tried to cover it up. Her eyes had gained a new odd glaze, and she now proved to be even more agitated and ready to snap at other dragons than usual. A couple of times she had tried to attack some other dragons (although under much less stressful terms than what had happened between Tsunami and Glory.)

At first, Glory just tried to pin it on stress. After all, Tsunami was never good with handling it, but neither were dragons like Sunny and Starflight.

Also Glory hadn’t ever seen _drooling_ as a sign of stress.

It was unmistakable- Glory’s suspicions were very nearly confirmed. The lack of water was really getting to her.

Glory was rather surprised the situation that occurred that day hadn’t happened sooner- Tsunami must have been really trying to hold back.

They were only alerted of what happened from the scream of fear that came unmistakably from Sunny. All of the dragons had rushed into the little mini-library that they had seen Sunny walk into last she was seen.

It was too late.

The small SandWing-NightWing was on the ground, twitching and wheezing. The most obvious wound on her was a one stretching from her jaw to her shoulder, gleaming red with bits of flesh and scales on the ground along with the pooling blood. Over her was Tsunami, who had a blurry look to her eyes and foreclaws coated in Sunny’s vibrant red blood, (and Glory, thinking back to this later, thought that the comparison just came from the stress of the moment, and _not_ her rational mind) contrasting starkly in a rather unfashionable way to her blue scales.

Glory reacted quickly, running towards Tsunami. Right before she could reach her, there was a painful feeling in her head as the SeaWing slammed her tail into her temple. She stumbled against the wall, books and scrolls falling out of the crevices and hitting her.

Although everything was fairly blurry, Glory could see the next one to react was Clay, who seemed very reluctant to hurt Tsunami. So (rather foolishly in Glory’s opinion) he stepped forward, attempting to reason with the (obviously messed up in Glory’s opinion) SeaWing who was ( _obviously in Glory’s opinion_ ) looking ready to rip apart anyone who came near.

But clearly the MudWing didn’t share her opinions, so he began speaking.

“T-Tsunami,” he stumbled over his words, looking nervous, “I don’t know why you did this, but calm down, please. There’s- there’s no reason for you to do this. I know you’re desperate to get out, I-”

He was cut off as Tsunami lunged at him. But almost instantly after she dug his claws into his brown scales, black venom went flying to her eyes. She screamed in fury and pain, and stumbled back, collapsing on top of Sunny’s body. The other Dragonets of Destiny looked at her with horrified expressions (or the only ones able to, at least, meaning Clay and Starflight.)

Glory got up, and tried to ignore how the world spun as she got up in the fast movement, and stumbled towards Tsunami and Sunny, shoving Clay out of the way.

She pushed the SeaWing off of Sunny, and inspected the shaking NightWing-SandWing’s neck wound. Glory gritted her teeth when she realized that there was no chance. The wound was deep, and Tsunami had almost definitely hit her windpipe, and especially considering the complete lack of medicine or even bandages Sunny would die of blood loss. And Glory didn’t even have to look at Tsunami to know that she had gotten the SeaWing right in her eyes, which had most definitely melted, and the venom was probably making its way through the SeaWing while Glory thought about it.

Glory slumped down, and the words came out bluntly, without even a touch of doubt.

“We’re going to die.”

****

\---

****

    Qibli hummed in satisfaction, reading over every enchantment he had written thus far. The talisman was getting rather cramped, especially as a result of his detailed, gruesome spells that he had written on it. He had a few more ideas- some that didn't even involve using the scroll- but he was still able to fit what he needed to with the remaining space that he had.

    So, he copied the last spell remaining on his scroll with his plans.

****

    " _A  majority of Jade Mountain will collapse, and the few lucky dragons trapped in caves will each commit suicide involuntarily in various ways._ "

****

Although it was the last enchantment he had planned on his extra scroll, he wasn't done with his victims quite yet.

Before he could think of things like that, Qibli added a quick heat of the moment enchantment towards the bottom of the scroll: just a simple one that would erase every word written on the talisman, but the spell's effects would all still remain in tact.

Afterwards, his mind trailed towards dragons that he had not killed yet, and they landed on one in particular.

 _Six-Claws_.

Well, he knew his next victim. _Back to the desert I guess,_ he thought, hiding his scrolls and the ink bottle securely in their usual places before he took off towards his destination.

****

\---

****

Jade Mountain was collapsing.

Things were happening way too fast. First, a majority of the teachers had mysteriously disappeared, which was an immediate red flag that something was off. And then, not long after they _had_ disappeared, dragons were yelling at each other to "evacuate" and that "Jade Mountain was collapsing".

However, before anyone could really escape, they found out that every entrance and exit had already been blocked by rocks and debris that was falling from every corner of the mountain.

So, they were stuck.

Most dragons were hit with the force of large rocks instantly crushing them, killing them on the spot. Others became trapped behind walls of stone with no way out. Involuntarily, they each began harming themselves in various ways- some stabbing themselves with the sharpest rocks they could find in the tight, cramped places that they were stuck in, others bashing their heads against sturdy rocks...

Eventually, Jade Mountain Academy, and, by extension, Jade Mountain itself, had completely fallen, killing whatever dragons were left inside.

****

\---

****

    Qibli eventually made it to the SandWing palace. He was getting tired of constantly going back and forth between his scroll and other dragons who he wanted to kill with his own claws, but he knew it was all worth it in the end.

    He silently wished that he had enchanted some object to immediately show him Six-Claws' location, but he shrugged it off. Maybe if he intimidated a guard enough, they would tell him where he was.

    He saw a few guards, well, guarding the entrance to the SandWing palace. Their expressions were stern, and Qibli already knew that it wasn’t likely they’d budge if he just asked, but there was no reason he couldn’t _try_.

    “Hello, gentlemen,” he said after clearing his throat, looking at the older dragons with a brilliant grin, but he decided to just skip the small talk, “I am a close associate with the queen. Qibli. I assume you recognize my name. I am one of Her Majesty’s advisors.”

    The guards shifted, looking like they had mixed feelings. Finally, one spoke up.

    “I do think I’ve heard your name floating around, but I’m afraid we don’t have any way to really confirm you are allowed to enter the castle. Things have been pretty tight lately, with what happened at the Scorpion Den.”

    Well, asking politely definitely wasn't going to work.

    So, with his polite smile remaining, he spoke again. “Tell me something. How do you think Thorn will feel if one of her closest advisors is forced out by some random new guards?” He looked over the guards. “She treats me almost like her child, you know.”

    The guards looked conflicted, shooting looks at each other, but finally when one seemed like he was about to object another one spoke up. “Very well. We will notify Her Majesty of your attendance.”

    Qibli quickly rushed in when the guards shuffled out of the way. Being one of Thorn's most loyal dragons, Six-Claws was bound to have his own room in the palace somewhere, which is why he decided to stop by the palace first.

    However, as he slinked through the complicated halls of the palace, he found himself quickly realizing something; he was going to have to get some directions to find Six-Claws if he was even there.

    He quickly found the nearest guard to get directions to Six-Claws' room- which turned out to be not far from where Qibli was, and it also confirmed that the older SandWing _did_ reside in the palace.

    Qibli repeated the simple directions the guard gave him as he walked down the halls to locate Six-Claws' room. It didn't take long to find said room, and when he did, he immediately barged into the room. The older SandWing jumped as he did so, quickly whirling around to face Qibli.

    "You..."

    "Yep, it's me!" Qibli said far too cheerily as he closed the door to the room, thankful that he hadn't actually knocked it off its hinges and beyond repair.

    Six-Claws finally seemed to find his voice. “Qibli. Oh dear. Thorn has been worried sick! What was our last meaning all about?” The older SandWing approached Qibli, expression laced with worry.

    "Wow. Are you really _this_ dumb?" Qibli took a step forward, forcing the older SandWing back. "Do you not remember our last meeting? I had _killed_ someone, or at least, I hoped I did. Could you not tell? And," he added, "you and Thorn denied my offer. We could have been powerful together. I have the most powerful object in all of Pyrrhia. However, I don't need it in order to _kill you_."

    Without giving Six-Claws a chance to respond or react, Qibli leapt forward and smashed the other SandWing against the wall to his room. The impact made a dent in the wall, which already satisfied Qibli. He stepped forward to stand above Six-Claws, and he raised his barbed tail in warning, although with the plan he had in mind, it was mainly as a last resort weapon more than anything.

    "Wh... what are you going to do to me?" asked Six-Claws, genuine fear and panic in his eyes and voice.

    What a coward. He was just laying there, so helpless. He was so much older than Qibli, and could easily overpower him, or run away, but here he was.

    All the more reason for Qibli to kill him.

    Qibli looked down at him, still a grin on his snout. “Come on, Six-Claws. You’re better than this.”

    He raked his claws down the SandWing’s chest, ripping scales and dragging his curled claws through the softer flesh underneath.

    The fear in Six-Claws' eyes was now accompanied by betrayal and pain.

    He looked like he wanted to speak, but he was cut off by his own yelp when Qibli dug his claws into the lower part of his tail, which was almost always more susceptible to pain on dragons.

    Qibli hummed, debating with himself whether or not he should just kill the SandWing or drag it out. 

    He sighed, perhaps a bit theatrically, before deciding he had the time to pull this out.

    Qibli ripped his claw through the SandWing’s neck, deep enough to draw blood but not enough to kill him or snap his neck. The blood immediately began pooling from the glistening wound, torn flesh pushed up against the edges of the wound.

    He studied Six-Claws. 

    _Hmmm… Six-Claws. He has six claws. He always seems pretty desperate to prove that they don’t make him any worse than a normal SandWing..._

Qibli's eyes were drawn to the older SandWing's namesake. The smile that had already been curled into his snout grew wider.

    “So, Six-Claws.” He said, wrenching one of the talons towards himself as he sat back, making sure to keep him pinned as much as he could while doing this by sitting on him. “How many times can you remember being teased or harassed because of these things?”

    The SandWing only mumbled a confused noise, before he grew more alarmed when Qibli bit the base of one of the claws.

    It did strain Qibli’s teeth quite a bit to do it, but it worked nonetheless. He dug his teeth into the spot, before wrenching his head back. Oh, the pained yelp that came from the older dragon was just glorious. But it reminded him he would have to be quick. No doubt his screams would alert guards.

    Blood immediately spilled from the spot where one of his claws had been, and said spot was now just a small blood-clotted hole in his talon. Whether it was an unconscious decision or not, the SandWing began wriggling under Qibli, most likely a weak attempt to get away.

    Qibli went down the talon, wrenching the claws out, each with vigor and excitement. Maybe a bit too much to be considered normal. But hey, since when did Qibli care about that?

    Once he finished wrenching all of the claws out, he looked at his work, and tilted his head with satisfaction when he saw what had been just one small tear in the flesh was now six.

    “Six-Claws. I guess I can call you No-Claws, now, huh?” His gaze ventured to meet Six-Claws’ pain-filled one. “One of your biggest securities is gone now. I know, I know, no need to scream your thanks, I’m a magician.” The only response was a pained mumble from the SandWing. “Oh, you’re spoiled. You want more, huh? I guess only having one talon without your little embarrassment wouldn’t be enough.”

    Almost immediately, he dropped the talon he had been clutching to keep it still, and picked up the other front talon. He repeated the same process with this one as well, but he found himself growing bored with repeating the same trick after the second time.

    Besides, these weakened shrieks weren’t enough for him to feel like continuing.

    He tore his claws through the older SandWing’s neck again, and just as he was widening the wound, he felt something bump into his head. He looked around, before seeing that there was a scroll by his hind talons. He looked up to see the window was now open. He picked up the scroll, and opened it up.

****

    “ _Hello, Qibli. Oh, how to start this off? It’s been quite a bit since we’ve last spoken. I bet you thought you’d never hear from me again. I guess you thought wrong! I bet you were super proud of your ability to steal a scroll. You were, huh? While I do feel_ reeeaaally _bad about taking that away, I’m afraid it was necessary!_

_I see the enchantments you put down already- you’ve been really busy, huh? I’d say I’m proud of you, but I don’t like to lie. Since when have I bothered with them when it comes to you?_

_Anyway, I plan to continue what you thought was your own legacy. Don’t worry! Everything will be just as you planned. Or at least what_ I _want, which is probably better than whatever ideas you have anyway._

_Your favorite mother, Cobra.”_


	7. Your Favorite Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings:
> 
> murderous / psychotic thoughts / actions  
> graphic depictions of violence / blood / death

Qibli read the message over and over again, getting more and more shocked and furious as he did so.  _ How did she survive what I did to her? _ he thought with disbelief, thinking back to the "battle" that the two SandWings had had,  _ and more importantly,  _ how _ did she find  _ my  _ scroll? _

__ _ Favorite mother. Ha. _

__ He held the scroll with Cobra's message tightly in his claws, the parchment wrinkling and tearing under his tight grip. He would have just sat there for longer if it weren’t for the slam of doors behind him, signifying that guards had finally showed up. He couldn’t even think of a snarky comment to throw at them, he just shot through the nearest window, which happened to be the one the scroll had gone through, so it was open. His wingbeats were sporadic, and there were drops of blood flying every so often from how recently he had torn apart Six-Claws.

Qibli was still in shock from what had happened, his thoughts going a mile a minute. He had already nearly ripped the note Cobra had sent him in half with the force he was using to hold it.

Everything seemed to shatter around him, and he swore that all he could see for a moment was black. He nearly plunged down from the sky, before coming back to his senses somewhat.

_ There’s no way. _ He tossed the note down, and it plunged into the sand below. He was vaguely aware that the guards from the castle had now started to pile out of the doors and windows, and luckily he was able to process what was happening enough to begin flying away.

Everything seemed to spin as he flew, and he felt light-headed and dizzy.

But then everything seemed so very clear to him. He still had power, right? He had been governing this world for weeks now. Surely it couldn’t be taken away that easily, right?  _ Right _ ?

He realized that the guards had stopped following him, and he paused his flying. He dug his claws into his satchel, and sure enough…

_ Aha _ !

There was a small piece of parchment that he had ripped from the original scroll before leaving to get rid of Six-Claws. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to scribble down a simple spell or two.

He began descending- when had he arrived back at the forest? It didn’t matter. He looked around, and found himself back at square one. What would he write with? He had left the ink and quill back with the talisman. He recalled how he had crushed berries and used a leaf to make spells, back before he had taken his trip to Cobra.

_ Cobra _ .

The thought occurred to him with enough venom to kill someone. How  _ dare  _ she? How dare she just ignore what he had said to her, done to her? He was sending a message when he had torn her apart: “ _ No longer will you be able to control me. _ ”

And she just ignored it. His movements were tensed as he went to grab some berries and a leaf, and crushed them up so he’d be able to write spells down. He’d send a message!

That was the thought that occurred to him as he scribbled down his first spell, after grabbing a random rock and placing it on the small piece of parchment.

“ _ This rock will go to one of the dragonets from my Winglet. _ ”

The rock immediately shot into the air, and Qibli hardly had enough time to latch onto it and grab the rest of the paper before he was shooting off in a random direction.

It didn’t take long for the rock to stop in its tracks. When it did, he was hovering over a village he didn’t recognize. It didn’t take a genius like Qibli to realize that this was it- this was the village where the Jade Winglet- or at least the remnants of it- was hiding. He snorted to himself- even in his trance state, he could think to himself,  _ Do they really think hiding somewhere like this would hide them from me? It only takes one spell to find them. _

__ And that he had done.

He tossed the rock aside, before he settled down on top of one of the rooftops and beginning to scribble another spell.

“ _ This village will burn to the ground this village will burn to the ground thisvilla ge willburntothegroundthisvillagwillburntothegroundthisvillgwilburntogrund _ ”

As he wrote it, his handwriting grew more and more messy, unreadable, till the parchment was completely filled up with both legible and illegible words. Still, the first phrase was done clearly, or at least clearly enough for the talisman to recognize it, because almost immediately there were flames bursting out of the bases of some of the houses and buildings.

He sat on top of the building, watching in trance-like excitement as he saw dragons start to panic and flee from the fire. The screams rose as the fire did, it and the crackling flames were like music to Qibli's ears as he listened and watched in interest.

He didn’t move an inch as he watched it. The flames licked at the sky, yellow, orange, red and beautiful in the most fascinating way. They ate up the buildings and spread at an unnatural speed, which could most definitely be blamed on the fact that they were caused from an animus spell.

He hardly even budged as he felt the flames start to rise around him as the building he was sat upon had been almost completely engulfed in flames as well. It was only when he felt the flickers start to scathe his scales and create long burn marks that he leapt down, right into the fire below.

It really didn’t help with the pain, but it  _ did  _ help with him really seeing the chaos he had caused. Through the smoke and flames he could see the melted and charred bodies of dragons that had already been claimed as victims to the fire. As he trudged through the flames, slowly growing more and more slow, he saw a particularly familiar body, and nearly jumped in joy when he recognized it.

It was fairly small, young, and undoubtedly a RainWing. A  _ very  _ familiar one at that.

_ Kinkajou _ .

Although her scales were now white, a colour that meant pain for RainWings, instead of her usual obnoxiously bright yellow and pink, it was still easy to distinguish her from other RainWings that he might have seen.

He smiled to himself as he began to sink down, his scales melting and the delicate skin underneath being turned black and burning away. He lay there, burning and burning until his retinas were turned into nothing and everything went black, and everything else as well dulled. But still, he couldn’t help but be ecstatic, or as much as he could when he could hardly think beyond the pain.

Nonetheless, all he could think to croak out was, "Your favorite son, Qibli."

 

\---

 

Cobra couldn't believe what she was reading.

She was both surprised and ecstatic to find out that Qibli had died- although she was a bit melancholic about the whole situation, since she would rather have dealt with him with her own claws rather than have him die by some outside force. After all, if he had given him that treatment, where was the harm in returning the favor?

Nonetheless, with him done causing problems all around Pyrrhia, it was  _ her _ turn to do so.

With the ancient talisman and the never ending pot of ink in her claws, she set off towards the Kingdom of Sand and, more specifically, the Palace itself. Only one thing was on her mind:  _ take the SandWing throne, even if it so happens to be by force. _

__ She internally groaned, seeing multiple guards standing by the entrance to the palace. It was fine, though; she took a quick pit stop to write down a spell in order to distract the guards. She didn't want to bother with them at the moment- after all, her only main concern was finding the Queen of the SandWings herself.

After the enchantment had taken effect, Cobra quickly entered the palace, beginning to make her way to the throne room. And, if the plan went effectively enough, (which it would, of course, Cobra told herself) it would be  _ her _ throne room.

After all, if Thorn didn't have royal SandWing blood and was still Queen, then what could stop Cobra from taking the throne herself?

After traversing through long hallways, she eventually made it to the throne room. Sure enough, the SandWing queen was all by herself, sorting a few scrolls and writing quick notes every once in a while. As the doors opened, however, Thorn looked up, surprise forming on her features.

"Cobra? Is that you?" Thorn asked, placing her papers down in order to stand face to face with the other SandWing. "What are  _ you _ doing here? And..." she added, taking in Cobra's features more clearly before her eyes widened in horror, "what  _ happened _ to you?"

After the battle that she had had with Qibli, she had survived and managed to track down her son's most common hiding spot. She had quickly realized what the talisman was- a manifestation of animus power, able to be used by  _ any _ dragon, regardless if they were an animus or not. She had used the scroll to not only send Qibli an ominous message essentially telling him that she was still alive, but she also healed a majority of her wounds, but managed to keep some of the scars, especially some of the uglier ones.

The older SandWing didn't respond, and instead lunged forward, swiping her talons over Thorn's snout before the SandWing queen had any time to react.

The Queen stumbled back, a look of confusion on her face, before her expression hardened. She got into a more defensive position, expression unreadable.

Cobra remained unphased by her change in attitude, and leapt forward, knocking into her and scattering the scrolls on the desk behind her all over the floor. Thorn kicked Cobra away, but not quickly enough to stop the older SandWing from deepening the clawmarks in Thorn’s snout.

Thorn left her defensive position, and took the moment she had from knocking Cobra away to shove the larger SandWing to the ground, hooking her claws into her wings and tearing through them. Cobra winced in pain, but suddenly a thought flashed through her mind.

She could clearly remember it; she had Qibli pinned to the ground, in a similar way that Thorn now had her, and felt so much like she was going to win. And now she met Thorn’s eyes, who had her snout set in a grim scowl. Blood was dripping down from her mouth onto Cobra’s face from the wounds she had already inflicted.

But after Cobra had Qibli what she thought was wrapped around her claw, he had retaliated in a way she had not expected.

She could remember it so clearly… a barbed tail forcing its way straight through her stomach and peeking out on the other side, with blood and entrails and flesh pouring out of the open wound.

Thorn began screaming, clearly not expecting it. She stumbled back, eyes fixed on her opponent with pain clear in her gaze.

Qibli had approached her, a smile on his snout and eyes gleaming, spitting out taunts without a second thought, posture cocky and determined before he plunged his tail straight through a spot next to the other wound, blood seeping out, and once he pulled it out there was bits of flesh flying from the quick movement and blood pouring and pouring and pouring.

Thorn looked at Cobra, the Queen's gaze a mixture of fear and pain in her eyes. But she wasn’t the type to give up. Despite the deep wounds in her stomach, she tried to stumble to her feet, and was only able to stand for a few moments before collapsing again, shaking and breathing hoarsely.

Qibli had plunged his claws right into the already open gashes in her stomach, with a malicious relentlessness that made even someone like Cobra taken back. Scales and skin and blood flew to the wall, and she could recognize this; a lost battle, a lost cause, but yet she still screamed at him.

Thorn was completely slumped against the wall, coughing and sputtering blood as she twitched and spasmed. Cobra looked over her, and smiled to herself. Maybe she  _ could  _ get this whole thing that her last son had been so excited about. Thorn was painted in blood, and black was traveling all over her belly and into her legs and chest from the two spots that Cobra had stabbed her venom into. It truly was a sight to behold.

And when she had screamed at Qibli, he responded with something that was only a blur in the background due to the pain that was coursing through her body. Next thing she knew, he was forcing her jaws open and ripping the inside apart, forcing her to scream until her entire throat and inside of her mouth was shredded to nothing but threads.

Thorn remained quiet through the entire fight, the only time she really made noise was when she screamed in pain, but nothing she did was out of retaliation towards her attacker. But Cobra decided to imagine that she was anyway.

Qibli had left her body there.

Cobra decided to take Thorn’s body, carrying it and seeing a pool of blood under her once she lifted it up. The larger SandWing dug her claws into Thorn’s scales, picking her up and crashing through one of the closed windows and out into the open air. She knew what she was looking for- she had seen it while walking around.

Cobra made her way to the palace courtyard, and upon seeing the large river that ran through it, descended to stand beside it. There were gasps of shock and screams of horror as she set down, but before anyone could do anything, she yanked off Thorn’s crown which had stubbornly clung to it’s old owner and tossed it to the side. She then grabbed the Eye of Onyx that was around Thorn’s neck.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to wear it- it was a given, due to Blister’s well-known and unfateful demise. So she wouldn’t be stupid like the old SandWing princess had been.

She yanked out the talisman, and placed the Eye of Onyx on it, scribbling down a quick spell in rushed handwriting, not even bothering to dip the quill in the ink, so the ink on the paper was scratchy and dried. 

“ _ This Eye of Onyx will accept me and only me, regardless of whatever spell has been cast on it before. _ ”

 

Sure enough, Cobra slid on the Eye of Onyx, and it made a low humming noise as she did so. When it set firmly in place around her neck, it flickered with purple lines, and eventually stopped. Cobra grinned to herself, before turning her gaze to Thorn, who was still wheezing slightly on the ground. No one had made a move to approach either, most likely frozen in shock and horror.

Cobra shoved the ex-Queen’s body into the river, and the water immediately turned red. She was hardly visible through the red-clouded water, but from what Cobra  _ could  _ see, she was only able to struggle slightly, and her movements were twitchy and sporadic. Eventually it stopped, due to her being unable to get herself out of the water.

Cobra picked up the crown she had haphazardly tossed aside, and inspected it. It glimmered still, even when covered in its original owner’s blood, with different gems ranging from deep blue sapphires to a pale yellow glimmer of quartz.

It was magnificent, and the coat of blood only made it better. Well, a wonderful crown would only  _ truly  _ fit on a wonderful Queen, so maybe that is why it felt so perfect when she placed it upon her head.

And after doing this, she turned to the crowd of horrified and shocked dragons, some now were slowly approaching.

“SandWings,” she rose to her full height, smiling at them and fiddling with the Eye that was placed on her chest, “I am your new Queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are approaching the end.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings:  
> Graphic descriptions of wounds/blood  
> Drowning

#  EPILOGUE

 

The journey was, as expected, miserable. There were storms, loud, abrasive, crashing ones, tossing the two dragonets about like ragdolls within a child’s clutches. But the two knew they needed to at least try.

Perhaps they should have known better.

Turtle, of course, was better off over an ocean. He was a SeaWing, after all. Even if he was knocked into the water, he wouldn’t drown. And knocked into the water he was.

Everything was happening so fast, with rain pelting his scales, and Moon ahead of him having it even worse due to being a NightWing who, like most tribes, could not fare well in storms and oceans. The two knew if anything went awry, then she would be killed; she would drown.

Maybe that’s why they were so keen on being quick.

The two had heard stories and tales told about a continent across the sea- a place that was so different and strange and unheard of and not to mention  _ extremely far away _ that no one dared ever try going there. But the two dragonets were in a tight spot. And this was the last chance they had.

And they both know it was a fairly slim chance this would actually work. Nonetheless, it was the last option.

Turtle supposed he really should not have been surprised when he and Moon were shoved underneath the surface of the water by a particularly high wave. 

He had been too shocked to move for a good few seconds, before realizing that Moon was in the water as well. He rushed through the water to get to her, and found her struggling and trying to gasp for air. He quickly began pulling her towards the surface, using his tail to propel him quicker. But just as he reached the surface, he was slammed under again, and Moon had no chance to take a gasp of breath. The same thing happened every single time he tried to do this- surge upwards, be shoved underneath, Moon struggles and her movements grow weaker.

And that was when he began to give up.

A great feeling of guilt overwhelmed him when Moon’s arm slipped from his claws- or did he drop her? It was unclear. He swore it was just an accident. He wouldn’t ever do that to one of his dearest friends.

But either way, she began to sink slowly towards the bottom, limbs desperately clawing to try to reach the surface, wings flapping desperately, but it was hopeless.

Turtle watched with growing dread as his friend was swallowed up by the darkness of the sea, and she was no longer visible with how far away she was. Moon was gone.

Perhaps what happened next was karma for his crimes.

As he continued, all he could think to himself was,  _ if she can’t get there, there is no reason I can’t. I have to get there, and I have to survive. For Moon. For everyone else who was in the Winglet. For Pyrrhia. _

He shot through the water, growing more and more desperate as he went through the black ocean, rain pelting his scales and wings. He knew that there was another place beyond the sea, far away from Pyrrhia. Surely there was, right?

That particular thought fueled him to continue. But perhaps it was all for nothing, because it didn’t take long for him to be forced to a stop.

There was a blossom of pain in his chest, that slowly grew worse and worse and made him begin to writhe. Once he glanced down at the spot that the pain was coming from did he realize what was going on.

_ A spear _ .

There was the sharp end of a spear bursting through his chest, blood sprouting from the puncture and clouding the water till nothing was visible but the red of his own blood, and bits of his own flesh floating through the dark water.

He himself began sinking down, down, down, blood pouring out, and he felt himself grow weaker. It didn’t take long for everything to go black.

...

But Cobra was satisfied; after all, who likes when a list is left unfinished?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those that stuck around!!! <3333 Me and Gale are super grateful for anyone who read this. It's not super long, but we still are proud of the project. We really tried to delve into darker topics with this- not sorry for the shitty ending.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Ooooof… this is gonna be fun to write...


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